Spike Moving the Peices Around
by dankind33
Summary: UPDATED 4th Chapter Up!!!!!! Spike gets the chance to take back some of his moves in the game. Please R and R (S5 going into AU)
1. Turning back time

Swapping the pieces around. PG-13  
  
All characters herein are the property of Joss Whedon (except the ones I made up, but even if he uses them, I'd be chuffed to bits) and are used here solely for the entertainment of others. No profit is intended. Also, I've used some exact dialogue from Mart Noxon's 'Wild At Heart', however, it soon becomes AU.  
  
Authors Note I have a set narrative in mind, but why don't you drop me a line telling me what you would like to see? Nothing smutty, mind, as FF.net is a squeaky clean place to be now. And I say yay! That means no more gratuitous snuff stories. Anyway, I'm ranting. Commence l'histoire!  
  
This story takes place right at the end of 'Out of My Mind'. Buffy and friends have foiled an attempt by Spike to remove that pesky chip, and we join our hero (or is that anti Hero?) on the long walk home.  
  
+++ Sunnydale October 2000  
  
Spike and Harmony trudged back to his crypt. Another plan failed. Right now he should be bathing in the slayer's blood doing the waltz around her broken body. Instead, she was off out with Marine Boy lording it up, probably laughing at Spike and Harm.  
  
"Oh come on Spikey." said Harmony in an attempt to cheer him up "Sure you still can't murder any humans, but at least you got me."  
  
"Marvellous" quipped Spike.  
  
"That's gratitude!" moaned Harmony "You reject me forcefully, then in your greatest hour of need, I selflessly help you in. ooh ooh Spikey its me! Its me!"  
  
Spike wondered what the hell had caught her attention. She ran up to a nearby telegraph pole, and yanked a missing poster down. It was of course, her missing poster. Her family must have refused to believe she died on Graduation day. Harmony was a pleased as punch that she could see her own face again; it must have been the first time in a year.  
  
"Oh, why couldn't Daddy use a better picture?" sighed Harmony  
  
"I dunno." said Spike sighing, he glanced down at the poster "Perhaps he thought that the other might scare. hang on." he snatched the poster out of Harmony's hands.  
  
".this poster has been funded by Kendall Electronics." Spike read aloud  
  
Harm snorted "Oh typical Dad, way to make money on your missing daughter. What a creep. I should go over there right now and hand him his lungs. Come on pookie," she began, grabbing his arm "I'll let you drink from the dead maid."  
  
Spike wrestled himself out of her grip, not looking up from the poster. "So, you're Dad's the boss of one of the biggest companies in down."  
  
"Duh" said Harmony. It was comments like that that made Spike wish she was human, so he could rip her throat out, well if he didn't have the bloody chip in his skull. The thought of his chip brought him back to reality.  
  
"So, you're not classified as dead, and you're a rich bit- a daughter of a rich bloke?"  
  
"Uhh huh" said Harmony.  
  
Spike balled his hand into a fist. A plan was forming. "I'm guessing dear old Daddy gave his dear old daughter a credit card."  
  
"Du-" Spike quickly put a finger to Harmony's lips  
  
"Yes or no will do love." Said Spike  
  
"Yes"-said Harmony  
  
"So, since they think you're missing, the old man didn't close you're account, right?"  
  
"No. oh wait that means I can spend money!" said Harmony if she was a cartoon character, she would have had huge dollar signs in her eyes. But the there was one problem - the ones in Spike's would be bigger.  
  
"Yes. for me!" he added  
  
+++ A few hours later, they were outside Mack's All Night Natural Health Food shop. Harmony didn't understand why she'd been dragged here. The stuff he sold was yucky, she'd tried some of his high protein shakes - they made her barf, and that was before she was a Vamp. Why did Spike want her money? And why did he want to spend it in a health food Store?  
  
Spike opened the door, Harmony followed. It was a dull health food store. It had more natural supplements rather than the chemical kind that Harmony preferred in life. Her philosophy was that if nature gave her such flaws, why use natural products? Why not use chemicals? Behind the counter was a firmly built hot guy - perhaps this wasn't such a dump after all.  
  
"Hello there, welcome to the store, what healthy products can I get for you this fine evening?  
  
Spike went into his pocket and got out his lighter. He held it up to the beefcake behind the counter, and drew a ring in the lighter in the air - the flame seemed to slow, and then stop - a ring of fire hovered in front of him. Spike put away the lighter.  
  
"Avatar be-gone" Spike said. The flame seemed to engulf the clerk, then when it was cleared, pus filled slime demon stood behind the counter.  
  
"Hey Man, what's the deal? What if a human customer came here?" the demon said in a squelchy voice. "I don't think they'd want to be served a health food bar from a 200 year old Leshar Demon."  
  
"Relax" said Spike "You'll be able to cast your Avatar at the next sunset. Now go and get me your gaffer."  
  
The demon nodded and went into the back. This was freaking Harmony out - was every other person in Sunnydale a demon, Vampire or Werewolf except her? Now even she was one of them!  
  
"Spikey, what's goin on? Why do demons run health food stores? And why are we here?"  
  
"Its called 'Sunnydale'. Now, deal with it." He coolly lit a cigarette.  
  
"Umm Spike, it says 'No Smoking' over there" said Harmony, pointing to the sign on the door.  
  
"It says 'No Dogs' either, I'll put his out when you leave. Ok, ok, this is my plan, if you can understand. About 2 years ago, Angel muscled in on my territory - he gets fangs for the first time in a century, and he nicks my bird. Anyway, I - and I'm ashamed to admit this - made a deal with the Slayer, me and Dru skip town, she slays Angel, saves the world, everyone's happy right? Well, that was only plan B. Y'See, before I helped the Slayer, I heard about Mack. Turns out, this is just a front. He fleeces the yuppies of this dump by day, by night he sells potions, brews and tonics to a strictly 'night time' clientele."  
  
"So you came here to buy potions - what for?" asked Harmony, finally making sense of Spike's words, but blissfully missing his snide comments about her and her former lifestyle.  
  
"It wasn't a potion - it was the blood of a Time Demon. They were all wiped out in the Middle Ages. Those who drink their blood can go to any point in their own past and interfere. I wanted to drink it, go back in time to before Angel lost his soul, dust him, and maybe take out the Slayer, and Dru would never know the difference."  
  
"Awww Spike, that's so romantic - you'd travel back in time and alter history for your girlfriend. Would you do something like that for your little Harm?"  
  
Spike choked on his Cigarette - not that he needed to breath or anything, it was just a force of habit that lingered still from his human days.  
  
"For this price? I shouldn't think so. That was the flaw in my plan, Mack wanted 3,000 dollars for the potion, what with it being very rare and impossible to reproduce. So, I couldn't kill and steal, without Angel or Dru getting wind of it, or even worse, the slayer. If I just tried to steal, then someone would see me, and do one of those photo-fit thingies on TV. So, like I say, plan B, help the Slayer."  
  
Harmony still looked confused "But why come back now. oh, wait now I get it. you want to go back to a few hours ago, and help the past versions of us get the chip out of your head."  
  
"Got it in one love." Spike said smiling.  
  
Mack came down the stairs. He was a large, yellow winged demon with porcupine like spikes running down his back. "Hey why hasn't this one got an Atarvus" asked Harmony.  
  
Mack's voice was gruff and moody "Because since someone removed the Avatar of my staff here, I have to go on a supply run tomorrow, so I've left it off before Blondie here can burn it off for a day."  
  
"Alright Mack, still got some of that lovely Time Demon's blood." Asked Spike  
  
"Yes, and the price remains the same, 3000 dollars. Not 200, not 20 and what was it - your word you won't 'shove my bleeding spikes where the sun doesn't shine'?"  
  
Spike slapped Harmony's credit card onto the counter. Mack's purple eyes lit up.  
  
"Right this way please Sir." said Mack, ushering Spike through a door.  
  
"Harm, why don't you wait here? keep a watch, for any Slayer activity."  
  
Harmony squealed with delight, Spike had chosen her, and she wouldn't let him down. She'd shout if the Slayer came anywhere near them.  
  
"You can count on me." Said Harmony.  
  
"I know I can love, I know I can."  
  
+++ Spike and Mack descended the spiral staircase. Mack seemed to be awful fidgety for a demon.  
  
"S-slayer? If she knows about this outfit, I could be ruined." Stammered Mack.  
  
"Keep yer spines on." Said Spike "The Slayer doesn't know about this place."  
  
"Then why did you warn her."  
  
"Because, I'm not going back to a few hours ago, I'm going back, about a year, give or take a few weeks, and explaining to her would be complicated."  
  
The yellow demon's face smoothed again, his worry lessening. "It's your dollar pal."  
  
Spike smirked. Actually it was three thousand, and they weren't his. But, now wasn't the time for technicalities. He would go back to 1999, just before those yahoos from the Initiative caught him and stuck the chip in his head. Hopefully he could make nice with his past self, warn him to avoid the Initiative, and make a request of him, thus ensuring he would forever be the Big Bad.  
  
They finally arrived in the basement. It was full of shelves with various brews, Spike picked one up it was a blue liquid.  
  
"'Horn Extension Fluid. add 2-3 inches in two weeks, natural formula.' People actually pay for this slop?" he asked with a chuckle  
  
The yellow demon took the bottle out of Spike's hands and put it back on the shelf, "Actually its only Anti-Freeze, but it does have the desired effect on horned demons. but, where not here to enlarge horns are we sir?" He went to a floorboard and lifted it up. He reached down into the floor, and pulled out an ornately decorated tube, about the size of a Cuban cigar.  
  
"Here you go. but be warned, there are some things you must bear in mind."  
  
"Isn't there always?" asked Spike.  
  
"Well, and I'm not sure I understand this myself, if you alter history for what you think is the better, then obviously, this reality will never happen."  
  
"Yes, that is the plan." Said Spike, he reached for the tube, and the demon held it in the air.  
  
"Well, the mystics who sold me this stuff said that if someone else uses the blood to change the history you tried to change, then you won't be able to change history in the first place, for the second time."  
  
"Bloody hell, and in English?" asked Spike.  
  
"Basically, if someone uses the blood to alter history after you, then the changes you made will be erased. Understand?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Just let me have it." The demon put the wooden test tube in Spike's hand. The carvings were of the time demon. Spike had seen uglier, but hey, the mystics that siphoned the blood from the demon road kill might have been conservative with the gore, Spike thought.  
  
"Alright, how does it work?" Spike asked.  
  
"You take off the stopper." Said the demon, reading from a scroll that was in the same hole as the tube. Spike complied and it budged with a satisfying 'pop'.  
  
"Now focus on the moment you wish to revisit, and inhale the aroma of the bottle."  
  
Spike remembered the moment he wanted to get to. It was in 1999, November. He had just returned from LA after missing out on the Gem of Amarra thanks to Angel and his cronies, well actually it was that bloody loony Marcus who ran off with it, but it was Angel's chums who interfered at the last minute, making him lose the ring. Spike shook his head and focused back on the moment. He had returned from LA, and was watching Buffy battle some feeble Vamps from a distance Spike guessed that not one of them was 5 years dead. They were all dust soon enough, but not before Buffy made with the funnies. Spike had comments of his own, but before he could finish he had been bagged and tagged by those army boys. Keeping the moment in his mind, he raised the tube to his nose, and inhaled.  
  
"Now Drink" instructed Mack.  
  
Spike downed the blood in one - and it was foul. Even pigs blood was better than this swill. Spike likened the experience to trying to drink a garden shed. He finally forced the fluid down his throat, and immediately it felt as if his intestines were on fire. His body began to fade. The basement around him began to fade, and reformed into an outside area at night.  
  
+++ Sunnydale 1999  
  
Spike watched as Buffy battled some rookie Vampires. They were small fry. Even one of her Slayerettes could take them out. She held a stake up to one.  
  
"You know very well, you eat this late..." she said, as she plunged a stake into his heart. "you're gonna get heartburn. Get it? Heartburn?" his flesh burned away in a second, and his bones turned to ash. But the slayer seemed a little distant "That's it? That's all I get? One lame-ass vamp with no appreciation for my painstakingly thought out puns. I don't think the forces of darkness are even trying."  
  
"Watch your mouth, little girl." Spike began out of earshot "You should know better than to tempt the Fates that way. 'Cause the Big Bad is." Spike heard a cracking sound, followed by a scream that sounded suspiciously like his own. He turned around to see a soldier laying unconscious, while he saw someone who looked very like him - from what he could remember - clutching his head. Another guard was moving in on his double, Spike was quicker, diving on him, and snapping his neck.  
  
"Either you're me, or we shop at the same store. Unless you shop at the Dead Slayer Warehouse I'm guessing column A?"  
  
+++ Will Spike manage to tell Spike what goes down? Will it make any difference? If it does, will it be in Spike's favour? Find out in the next instalment, meanwhile, feel free to R and R. 


	2. Alliances Formed

Swapping the pieces around. PG-13  
  
All characters herein are the property of Joss Whedon (except the ones I made up, but even if he uses them, I'd be chuffed to bits) and are used here solely for the entertainment of others. No profit is intended.  
  
Authors Note I have a set narrative in mind, but why don't you drop me a line telling me what you would like to see? Nothing smutty, mind, as FF.net is a squeaky clean place to be now. And I say yay! That means no more gratuitous snuff stories.  
  
Ok, Spike Mentions Guy Fawkes in this chapter, so I should quickly explain who he is. He was a radical who tried to blow up the houses of parliament with the King of England inside. He failed and was burned at the stake. Guy Fawkes night is celebrated in the UK by the burning of effigies (called Guys) and the use of fireworks, every November the 5th.  
  
This story takes place right at the end of 'Out of My Mind'. Buffy and friends have foiled an attempt by Spike to remove that pesky chip. Spike has just drunk the blood of a time demon, and travelled back to one year before (during the events of Wild at Heart). He's at the moment where the initiative captured him, and has just saved his past self from the soldiers.  
  
+++ Spike smiled, despite the chronic migraine he was feeling. He'd just taken out the army boys that dragged him to get that chip stuck in his head. Now he was - or would be free.  
  
"You got it mate." Spike said to his younger self "I'm you." He stood up and went into the younger vampires inside coat pocket, and pulled out his cigarettes. He opened the pack and studied the cigarette lighter.  
  
"Old faithful" he said tossing it in his hand, before lighting one of his double's cigarettes. "Got this from World War I. well, you'd know that. but one of these buggers nicked it after they kidnapped me."  
  
Spike then booted the still living guard in the gut, and felt a fresh dose of mind-numbing pain. He screamed and dropped the cigarette in the damp ground.  
  
The pre-chip Spike retrieved his lighter and cigarettes from his double's grasp and put them back into his pocket.  
  
"Listen mate" he began "Its only the fact that you are one hell of a looker, and that you saved me from the GI Joe appreciation society down there that I haven't killed you yet. And wasting one of my smokes just cancelled one of those reasons. So, you better tell me who you are, and why I'm meeting myself."  
  
"Alright, alright, keep your knickers on mate." Said Spike. "Alright, I'm from about a year in the future. These boys? They work for a clandestine branch of the US Government that were charged with capturing and containing demonic lifeforms." "And at which point in the next year," began pre chip Spike "do I turn into Fox Bloody Mulder?"  
  
"Oi! Do you want to know what happens to you or not?" grumbled the chipped Spike  
  
"I'm all ears." Said the young one.  
  
"In the original history." Spike began "these prats knocked me out and dragged me away. I came too in their underground lab. I managed to get out, and I decided to chow down on Red."  
  
"The Slayer's mate?" asked 1999 Spike.  
  
"Yeah. But I couldn't. perform." Said Spike nervously "It turns out that the initiative put a chip in my head. If I so much as point a gun at a human, I get intense neurological pain. The only way I could get my jollies, was fighting demons. At my worst point, I was staying in Xander Harris' wearing his bloody cast offs. Well it was either that or being chained in the bloody Watcher's bathtub, drinking pig's blood from a mug with a straw."  
  
"But you knocked him out alright" said the younger Spike, gesturing to the fallen initiative soldier.  
  
"Yeah, but right now I've got the kind of headache that would make you long nostalgically for the headache you had the morning after Woodstock."  
  
"So." said Spike of the past "you paid the time demon a visit? Where the hell did you get three thousand dollars from?"  
  
"Harm" said Spike the elder "But that doesn't matter. I'm guessing when you kill this fella all chance of the original history happening will be eliminated, and I'll cease to exist. Right, in a month or two, the new Big Bad will rear his head. His name's Adam."  
  
"If his female lackey's called Eve, then I'm going home." Said Spike.  
  
"No, and don't make me think of Adam shagging. He is an ugly bugger. Anyway, imagine a demon, Frankenstein's monster, and the terminator in one special bonus pack, and that's your bloke. He was hard, too bloody hard - I couldn't even kill the bloke. Of course, the slayer and her pals did, did some kind of spell that merged them all into one super being, they tore out his power core and smashed it. Now this is what you should do. Lay low. Keep out of the Slayer's way, and watch your back for GI Joe's mates. Adam will come to you, he'll probably be able to sense the fact that I was here. Tell him what I have told you. in exchange for one thing."  
  
"What's that?" asked Spike of the past.  
  
"He lets you at the Slayer."  
  
"Now that's an exciting prospect. Well, I'll kill this arse, and we'll have you on your way." Said past-Spike  
  
"Wait!" pleaded his future self.  
  
"Unless you've got the results of every horse race for the next year in your pocket, I really don't give a monkey's."  
  
"I just have a favour to ask - call it pay back for travelling in time and saving your arse. After you kill the slayer, I want you to sire her. Make her one of us. She'd go mad at the idea. See how she likes having to rely on the creatures she loathes."  
  
"Well, I don't do revenge for other people." Said Spike the younger with a stern face. "On the other hand, it wouldn't be revenge, because you wouldn't exist anymore, and in my heart of hearts, I gotta admit - siring a Slayer sounds like a bloody marvellous lark. I'm in."  
  
They shook hands firmly, and unchipped Spike walked to the wounded Soldier. He grasped his head in his arms, and twisted his neck in two.  
  
"That should do it." Said Spike looking down at his handy work. "So, when do you shove off?"  
  
He looked around - the older man was gone. Spike grinned. He had a second chance to be the Big Bad - and he would exploit it to its fullest potential.  
  
+++ March 2000  
  
Spike sat in his Crypt watching yet another soap. It was a tough life. The initiative was all over town, he'd had some close shaves with them whilst Feeding, but he usually kept an eye open for them at all times. That and the Slayer. She was still blissfully unawares that he'd even come back to town. Which was very handy. The last think he wanted was the Slayer hunting him down before this Adam chap his future self harped on about could wipe out the Slayerettes, and hand him the Slayer on a platter.  
  
His crypt door opened - for a split second, he thought his messiah had come, but that was instantly disproven, when he detected a very familiar scent.  
  
"Ello Dru. its been a while."  
  
He turned from the TV and saw Drusilla in all her glory. She moved as ever in long graceful exaggerated strides.  
  
"My Spike" she said. She leaned over sat on the arm of his chair and put her arms around his neck. Spike wanted nothing to melt into her embrace, and go on a bloody rampage with her. But something stopped him. He turned the embrace, and forced her onto the chair, whilst he shot up.  
  
"What's wrong, has your slime demon dumped you? Good for him I say."  
  
"Shhhhhhhh" said Drusilla getting up and wrapping her arms around his neck again. "The stars told me you had been cheating - you've taken back some moves in the game. You know what happens in the next act. Cheat. Cheat. Cheat. Cheat."  
  
"So, your foresight told you this eh? Alright, yeah, I admit it. I came back and told myself what's gonna happen. But what's it got to do with you?"  
  
"I'm sorry." said Drusilla "I knew that I'd doused your fire by lighting another. You laid down with the enemy because you were jealous of the king."  
  
Spike had been away from Dru for nearly two years, so it took him a while to get used to her way of speaking again. "You mean, you feel guilty because my love for you outweighed my evil nature? Well aren't we the selfless little Vampire?"  
  
Drusilla just rested her head on his shoulder. Spike felt his body tingle as dreams of this day had plagued his mind. He wanted to share everything. But he was still sceptical.  
  
"Alright, why did you come back, if I had been spoilt so badly?" asked Spike  
  
Drusilla lifted her head and looked up "You are waiting for the next move, the next player in the tale. The rose and the thistle bound together by the sword. And inside you Spike, the fire burns again. You are going to cause pain, and misery, and sadness. And you want do drive the girl who separated us mad! I see the fire burning. It's very pretty! Can I stay and watch the fire please Spike? Can I please?"  
  
Spike lifted Dru's arms from around his body and put them at her side. His face shifted as the ravenous demon at his core came to the fore.  
  
"Love" said Spike "Guy Fawkes Night has nothing on what I have in mind."  
  
Spike drew her to him and kissed her passionately, savouring the contact he had so dreamed of for so long.  
  
  
  
+++ May 2000  
  
Spike and Dru pursued their quarry down the alley. A young girl. Enough for one, but if they shared her, they would need to find another to feed from to satisfy their hunger.  
  
But there would always be more.  
  
The woman found that the alley was a dead end, and she looked desperately for a way out She tried to climb a fire escape, but Drusilla grabbed her ankle, and with no effort at all tossed her backwards. Spike could hear her heart now. It was like a natural accompaniment to her moans.  
  
"Please, don't do this." She pleaded.  
  
Thud. Thud. Thud.  
  
"I have money. lots of money."  
  
ThudThudThud.  
  
"Oh money you say?" said Spike. "Well I guess that changes everything."  
  
"It does?" she said calming a little  
  
Thud. Thud. Thud.  
  
"Oh yeah." Spike said. "We'll nick your purse after bleeding you like a pig!"  
  
She screamed, and as Spike moved in for the final kill, a fist burst through the wall behind her, and a skewer went straight through her spine killing her instantly.  
  
"I dunno who you are, mate." Said Spike angrily "But you just killed lunch. Now you're gonna pay!"  
  
Drusilla grabbed Spike's arm and put his her fingers to his lips.  
  
"It's the Rose, the thistle, and the sword - they're here at last!"  
  
Spike grinned. The figure that she claimed was Adam retracted the skewer that killed the woman. It then ripped apart the wall until it had made a hole big enough for it to get through. Spike thought his future self was right - Adam was an ugly sod.  
  
"Adam I presume" said Spike.  
  
"How do you know my name?" barked Adam, his voice seemed to have an intense anger inside it. "Just lets say the ghost of Christmas future told me. The name's Spike."  
  
"I know your plan." Said Adam matter of factly. "That sentence helped me. You see, I have been troubled by you, ever since I was awoken. I felt vaguely that there was something wrong with reality. I traced the problem to its source, and I found the problem in the Hostile ID files of the Initiative. I'll assume you know who they are."  
  
"Go on." Said Spike.  
  
"You see, Spike, the problem could be pinpointed to Hostile 17. Sometimes I see a Pogara demon, and sometimes, I see, you."  
  
Spike lit a cigarette, and played it cool.  
  
"Probably dodgey software mate, maybe you need to update your Windows."  
  
The cyborg delivered a forearm to Spike, and he was sent flying across the alley. It then trudged up to him and yanked him up by the throat.  
  
"Do not mock me, Vampire. The reference to the ghost of Christmas Future, is from Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. The particular ghost shared knowledge with Scrooge, knowledge of what was to come. Now I realise that your future self bent the laws of time. You are a contradiction to what should be. I should destroy you."  
  
"That would be a bad idea mate." Said Spike. "You're life is on the line here. You will be defeated soon, and I know how, and by who. Let me help, and I'll spill the beans.  
  
The cyber-demon gave a yell, and choke-slammed Spike onto the ground.  
  
"Very well, Vampire, we shall work as one. Now share your details!"  
  
+++ Apologies, this was a bit of a talky chapter, but the next one will be more action orientated - check out the next exiting instalment when its published. In the mean time, feel free to R and R! 


	3. Fallen Scoobies

Swapping the pieces around. PG-13  
  
All characters herein are the property of Joss Whedon (except the ones I made up, but even if he uses them, I'd be chuffed to bits) and are used here solely for the entertainment of others. No profit is intended.  
  
Authors Note I have a set narrative in mind, but why don't you drop me a line telling me what you would like to see? Nothing smutty, mind, as FF.net is a squeaky clean place to be now. And I say yay! That means no more gratuitous snuff stories. Although there are deaths in this story, specifically this chapter, that might come across as harsh, however, death and vampires are kinda like jelly and ice cream, are they not?  
  
+++ Sunnydale May 2000  
  
Buffy decided to pay her mother a visit. She felt strange somehow, as if there were some drastic element missing from her life. At first she supposed that it was the loss of Angel, yet she was pretty happy with Riley. Plus Angel wasn't exactly her favourite person right now. They had argued over what to do with Faith, and had agreed to keep their distance. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone else should be vaguely involved in her life. She decided it was nothing to do with the mystical forces of slayerdom, just the fact she was getting homesick. So, a visit to home was in order.  
  
She opened the door to her Mom's house. "Mom, you home?" she asked. There was no answer. "Mom?"  
  
She opened the door to her old room - and cried out at what she saw. Drusilla was laying on her bed, in the shade. She gingerly moved her fingers into the sunlight, where they fizzled for a second, and she drew them back in and kissed them, before giggling. Spike was laying down next to her, a lit cigarette in his mouth. But the truly vile thing was Adam. He had her Mom, impaled on his arm skewer. She had been drunk from, as she had two bite marks on either side of her neck. She had been dead for several hours..  
  
"Y'know Slayer." Said Spike "Your Mum sure makes good Shish Kebab."  
  
"Bastard!" screamed Buffy as she ran towards Spike. In a heartbeat, Adam dropped Joyce's corpse, and grabbed Buffy by the throat. He threw her through the window, and she was winded for a moment, whereas a normal human may have been seriously wounded, or wrose.. She got up from the ground, as Adam looked from above.  
  
She wanted to run up there again, but instead knew that she was out gunned, she ran quickly, tears streaming down her face. She needed Giles.  
  
+++ "I am unsure of this." said Adam as he watched the slayer go. "If you want to Sire her, as you say, why are you allowing her to flee?"  
  
"Let her run." Said Dru "Let her soul stain her being, then her heart collapse like an over tired horse, and she will be happy to join our new family."  
  
"A cryptic response" said Adam, as he scanned her sentence and tried to decode her metaphors and euphemisms.  
  
"And that's why I love 'er" said Spike. +++  
  
Giles tried to navigate his grief over Buffy's death by working out the mysteries - why were Spike and Drusilla suddenly involved with Adam? It was obvious that they were targeting those nearest and dearest to Buffy, but why now? What did he have planned?  
  
"Giles we gotta do something, she's a mess." Said Riley.  
  
"Well, what can we do. hm? Please tell me. Maggie Walsh's bloody monstrosity is striking close to home - Spike and Drusilla worked with Angel, who was intimate with Buffy. They know tons about her, as we've seen. With their knowledge about Buffy's circle of allies, and Adam's invulnerability, what can we do?"  
  
"Well" said Riley "What about some hardware? I'll ask the initiative for help, maybe they can."  
  
"Of course." Said Giles scathingly "Ask Frankenstein how to kill his monster."  
  
"Look, Buffy's hurt. Xander and Willow are comforting her now. We gotta do something!" insisted Riley.  
  
"Yes, you're right. We'll stay alive. Fighting Adam won't bring Joyce back, you're your death won't exactly help Buffy. We must play this carefully." At the same time, Giles wanted to 'lock and load' with Riley, and go out and tear Adam into his human, demonic and cyborg components.  
  
"I guess you're right." Said Riley, clenching his fists at his side. "It just hurts me to see that. She's the strongest person I've ever known. and this."  
  
Giles nodded. He'd seen Buffy in many states, but now, she was verging on despair. She was beginning to realise what he knew already - she was Adam's latest obession, and no one she cared about would be safe.  
  
+++  
  
Tara shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She had only met Mrs Summers a few times, but she had respected the woman. She managed to raise Buffy, one of the best things in Willows life, and thus her own. She wasn't scared for her own life, she was frightened for Willow's, and life without her seemed more frightening than an entire army of Adams. Anya was sat with her, while Buffy, Willow and Xander were in Giles bedroom, and Giles and Riley talked.  
  
"We should escape." Said Anya  
  
"I sorta think that Adam wou-would find us wherever we go." Said Tara  
  
"In that case, we should abandon Buffy. She is the liability. The rest of us can go on. You have Willow, and I have my Xander, and we'll all be happy in I don't know, Mexico."  
  
"How can you say that?" asked Tara "B-buffy has saved our lives and that's a cowardly thing to say."  
  
"You're right." Admitted Anya. "and I felt bad for thinking it, I just thought if I said it, then it wouldn't feel bad. But it feels worse."  
  
Tara was about to respond when Willow and Xander came down the stairs. They both seemed tired and drawn. They and Giles had been close to Mrs, Summers, almost as if they were extensions of the Summers family. Xander kissed Anya on the head, and Willow brushed her hand against Tara's shoulder.  
  
"How is she?" asked Tara.  
  
"Sleeping now." Said Willow. "I think she's more frightened of Adam than upset about Joyce."  
  
"I guess you get a little de-sensitised to fighting all the nasties that Buffy fights. When one actually takes the life of someone she loves, and she can't do anything about it. she freaked."  
  
"Wouldn't you freak if someone could kill everyone you love, and knows where you live?" asked Willow.  
  
"Everyone I love is here Will, and someone IS trying to kill us."  
  
"Then we'll stop them." A voice said from behind them - it was Buffy.  
  
"Buffy you should rest." Said Giles, coming over from the kitchen.  
  
"No." said Buffy flatly. "Those bastards want to strip away my family and friends, fine they can try, but you know what they'll find at my core? 100% slayer."  
  
"Buffy, Spike and Drusilla are formidable alone, but with Adam at their side, they're unstoppable. You can't go!" insisted Giles. "I know Mom meant a lot to you guys too, so you can come if you like. But do not try to stop me. You'll lose." Said Buffy. Her face was blank, she betrayed no signs of emotion in her voice either.  
  
"OK." Said Xander "If I can help, I will."  
  
Willow briefly looked at Tara before nodding "Count me in."  
  
Riley nodded "I'm always there for you Buffy. Adam's going down."  
  
If things were not so grim, then perhaps a great sense of camaraderie could be felt. But Giles disproved that.  
  
"For the record, this is the stupidest bloody thing I've ever heard. I've failed you as a watcher if you insist on going on this damned fool's errand."  
  
He removed his glasses.  
  
"No, Giles the Watcher is not coming with you."  
  
He walked over his weapons box and pulled out an axe. "But Ripper is!"  
  
Anya raised her hand. "What about us." She said gesturing between her and Tara "Do we get to die horribly too?"  
  
"No" said Willow. I want you two to do something very important. Willow wrote something on a notepad, and handed it to Tara. "Go here. Bring help."  
  
It was the Address of a Private investigation company - in LA.  
  
"Willow, it takes hours to get to LA. can they come in time?"  
  
"No." began Willow. "These people fight the same fight we do. They might be able to help, if we fail."  
  
"B-but. I want to stay with you." Said Tara, a single tear running down her cheek.  
  
Willow smiled sadly "We can't stop the juggernaught we're on. Adam can't get the chance to destroy you. You're a powerful witch. If we fall, then maybe you can help Angel. Please, go for me, where I know you'll be safe."  
  
Willow squeezed her hand. Tara nodded, loosening the tears on her face.  
  
"OK." Said Buffy, interrupting the tender moment "Lets get to work."  
  
+++  
  
Spike sat in a charred swivel chair in the burnt remains of the school. Such a historic place - he first met the Slayer there, Dru killed a Slayer here, so it seemed only fitting that the Slayer should snuff it here.  
  
He left a nice cryptic note on the corpse of the Slayer's Mum - meet at the beginning. The Slayer was a clever girl, she'd figure it out. Spike sighed, sure the Slayer had humiliated him for over a year, but deep down, he would miss this. The thrill of combat made Spike's life worth living, and now, as the last chapter in his feud with the slayer drew near, he was kind of sad that it would be ending.  
  
+++  
  
Xander inhaled deeply. They had arrived at Buffy's house and they had found the note. He hadn't gone into the room where Joyce's body was, but he could smell the death. Now, on the way to the high school, it was finally beginning to dawn on him. He would not be coming back. He shifted in the backseat next to Willow.  
  
"You scared?" he asked in a whisper  
  
"Xander, this is what we do. I'm used to it, we fight demons all the time." Willow said half heartedly.  
  
"Me too." Said Xander immediately understanding. I just hope, we can get through this, I mean, we've closed the gate to hell, restored a Vampire's soul, and averted the apocalypse so many times, but now, something just feels it's the final scene, and its only going to be death. and I don't mean in the heroic 'T-800' way."  
  
Willow shrugged "I suppose. but, the fight will go on, even if we fail. Angel, Wesley and Cordy. They'll keep on fighting for us."  
  
"Hey!" said Riley "Adam may be tough, but no one's unbeatable. Don't talk like that."  
  
"Right" said Willow "I mean that prophesy book said that The Master was gonna kill Buffy, yet there she is, still here in all her Living Slayerage."  
  
"Yeah, but he did kill me Will." Said Buffy.  
  
They continued on the rest of their journey in silence.  
  
Adam stood in one of the former computer labs in the school, looking out into the night. He inhaled the scents of smoke and ash and nodded. His GPS tracking system alerted him that a vehicle was approaching. His enhanced demon vision saw the car approaching the school.  
  
He was able to identify each of the five occupants from the school's electronic records, which he had reconstructed in the wait. In the driver's seat was Rupert Giles, formerly the School Librarian. Buffy Summers, aka the Slayer sat in the passenger seat, her record showed her to be a handful. Adam liked that. Alexander Harris and Willow Rosenberg, two students whose records were spotless until they allied themselves with the Slayer - Adam liked that too. The fifth occupant was not in the school records, but Adam knew him from the databases of the Initiative. Riley Finn.  
  
Buffy stormed out of the car as soon as it parked up. She had armed herself with a crossbow and sword.. Xander had chosen a crucifix and stake, Willow had a spell book and Giles had another crossbow. Riley followed, armed with an AK-47 he 'Borrowed' from the Initiative.  
  
Written above the door were the words 'Slayer Demon Night, in the Gym' in spray paint. One of Spike's little games no doubt. Buffy was no longer angry, no longer scared, no longer saddened over her mother's death. Her first priority was to wipe out the three occupants of that high school. They were scum, and the universe would be better off with them erased from it.  
  
Wordlessly, they marched into the Gym. Sitting atop the collapsed bleacher, was Drusilla. She was preening a half singed pom-pom like it was a small puppy. Spike was dribbling a basketball on the charred hardwood. When he saw the Buffy, he slammed the ball onto the ground violently. Chunks of burnt floor and soot flew up.  
  
"I never liked basketball myself." Said Spike "I preferred footy. Chicago Bulls? Give me Manchester." Spike ducked to avoid an arrow.  
  
"Oh come on Slayer!" said Spike "I help kill Mum, and now you won't do me the courtesy of joining me in a touch of repartee?"  
  
"No chat, no jibes, just death." Said Buffy.  
  
"I entirely agree!" said Adam from behind them. Giles and Buffy unloaded with their cross bows. One hit him in the chest, the other in the arm. Riley aimed his gun - and hesitated for a moment.  
  
"Riley. Take out everyone but the Slayer." Said Adam.  
  
To Buffy's utter horror, Riley complied. She watched as Giles, Willow and Xander fell to Riley's volley. Riley seemed to have a pained expression on his face - like he was resistant to do it. As Buffy stared, open mouthed at Riley, she felt a thud at the back of her skull, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.  
  
"Like you said." Smirked Adam. "Just death."  
  
+++ What a cliffhanger huh? Please R and R 


	4. A New Woman

Swapping the pieces around. PG-13  
  
All characters herein are the property of Joss Whedon (except the ones I made up, but even if he uses them, I'd be chuffed to bits) and are used here solely for the entertainment of others. No profit is intended.  
  
Authors Note I have a set narrative in mind, but why don't you drop me a line telling me what you would like to see? Nothing smutty, mind, as FF.net is a squeaky clean place to be now. And I say yay! That means no more gratuitous snuff stories. Although there are deaths in this story, specifically this chapter, that might come across as harsh, however, death and vampires are kinda like jelly and ice cream, are they not?  
  
+++ Sunnydale May 2000  
  
Buffy woke up. She found herself tied to a pole. She struggled to get free, but found she was trapped. He heard a giggle.  
  
"Like a fly in toffee. Buzz away! Buzz away!"  
  
She looked around, trying to make sense of the room. It was bathed in darkness. Slowly the lighting began to rise, and Buffy felt her head pound. It felt like her eyes had not been used in years. She looked down. She was dressed in some sort of awful burial robe - the kind of thing worn by:  
  
"Drusilla." Said Buffy aloud.  
  
"Governess Drusilla to you, young lady." Said the Vampire, coming out of the shadows.  
  
"Oh god, don't tell me this is some lesbian S and M thing" said Buffy. Drusilla slapped Buffy hard across the face.  
  
"Foul mouthed girl, no cakes for you!" She hissed.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Buffy.  
  
"You're going to learn proper manners, and learn what it is to be what you are." Said Drusilla.  
  
"I already know what I am - I'm the slayer, and you are about to become the slain." Buffy said, struggling against the rope."  
  
Drusilla shrugged. She walked up to something that was covered in a dusty sheet. She took hold of both sides, and wheeled it in front of Buffy. She grabbed a corner of it, and said a rhyme.  
  
"Mirror, Mirror, on the floor." She yanked the sheet off, and it was indeed a mirror.  
  
"Show this Slayer, that she is. no more!"  
  
Buffy screamed. There was no reflection. Suddenly it began to dawn on her, who she was. She thought the hunger she felt was merely the hunger of being denied food. But, she realised it was a hunger she had never felt before.  
  
"I'll. I'll kill you!" Buffy said, weeping.  
  
"That'll be the last of the humanity leaving your system." Came a familiar voice from behind them, - It was Spike. "Oh, I wouldn't worry, you'll feel like a new woman when the days over."  
  
"Yes, and you've got your wise governess to forge you into adulthood." Drusilla added.  
  
Spike shot a glance at his paramour. "Dru, I thought we discussed this. We agreed that you wouldn't do this Mary bleeding Poppins routine."  
  
She walked up to Buffy, and began to play with her hair, as a young girl would play with a doll.  
  
"But she's so. undirected and unfocused. I can help her!"  
  
"WE will help her. I told you before, we don't need anyone else, it's just you and me. If we get too close to her, then we'll get hurt when she turns on us, or gets a bloody soul, or runs back to the bleeding Master."  
  
"She doesn't cast the shadow of Angelus or Darla!" Insisted Drusilla. She released Buffy's hair, and stomped off out of the dusty room.  
  
"What's wrong, Spike, having a lover's tiff?" asked Buffy  
  
"I'll let that one pass, since the last of your soul is swirling around like water down the plug hole. By the time today's over, you'd kill your own mother for a drop of sweet, sweet blood. well, if we hadn't already killed her."  
  
Buffy's body tensed, ready for some outburst of rage at the murder of her mother - but nothing came.  
  
"I should be angry. you killed my mother." Buffy said, looking up at Spike with confusion. "How can a Vampire be in love, when I feel nothing at the death of my own Mother?"  
  
Spike shook his head "You don't get it do you? Vampires are just cattle to humans. Sure we may find them attractive, even grow to hate them, as I hated you. But at the end of the day, when you look at a human, all you'll see is lunch. Take Dru. Angel killed all her family and forced her to watch. Now, why the hell would she shack up with him after doing a thing like that?"  
  
Buffy shook her head. She tried to repress the memories of her friends and family - each one of them were becoming tempting prospects to kill - the they hadn't killed them already.  
  
"No. Angel loved me when I was human!" Buffy said. A part of her realised that they could now spend eternity together. She was pleased.  
  
Spike laughed as he lit a cigarette, and allowed the nicotine to fill his dead system. "Well, that's only because he's got a poncey soul. You saw it yourself. Take it away, and what do you get? And don't go thinking that just because you're one of us now, you two lovebirds can ride off into the sunset. Now you're on the team, the same soul would cause the poof to stake you in a heartbeat. not that your heart beats now. Which reminds me. You thirsty?"  
  
He reached into his duster and produced a glass bottle, and set it on the dressing table. Buffy could clearly smell what it was.  
  
"Blood." She said.  
  
"Congratulations, a real star pupil, top of the class. It'll be warm for another 10 minutes" Said Spike. He cut at her leg bindings, and then at the bindings at her wrists. She wobbled for a moment, and Spike moved to catch her.  
  
"Let go of me!" insisted Buffy.  
  
"Suit yourself love." Said Spike, as he obliged and inhaled from his cigarette again.  
  
"The blood." Buffy asked "Whose is it?"  
  
"Would it help you to know that it's from the Blood Donor run at the hospital?"  
  
Buffy dashed over to the table, and began to drink. The blood seemed to refresh her instantly, it was like waking up from a long sleep in a second. Her instincts became sharper, even more so than when she was the Slayer.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes." Said Spike "Pity it was actually the last blood from your watcher."  
  
Buffy stopped. Something told her that she should smash the bottle on the ground, and tear spike up with the jagged end. Instead, she drank even faster. She finished the bottle, and set it aside.  
  
"Thanks" she said.  
  
"Tell me." Said Spike "What's on your mind?"  
  
"I was wandering what it would have been like to drink directly from Giles' throat." Buffy said.  
  
"Well you can make an educated guess." Said Spike "Follow me".  
  
+++ Willow Rosenberg wept silently. She had an awful gunshot wound in the shoulder when she woke up in this basement. She'd attempted a spell to teleport herself out of this hole, even something to light up the room, and she had failed. She guessed that it was at least a day since she had been captured - she could see patches of light come through the holes in the wall.  
  
She tried shouting, but no one responded, which meant one of three things. 1) They had forsaken her - completely impossible. 2) They were all still hurt and unconscious. It was the best she could hope for as 3) meant that they were all dead. From the holes in the wall, Willow could tell that night had fallen again. A few minutes later, she heard a loud creaking sound, and watched as a hatch in the ground opened - she was in an attic of some kind. A figure that was familiar to Willow climbed out of the hatch.  
  
"Oh god Buffy, I thought I was gonna die up here! Where are the others?" asked Willow.  
  
"Maggie Walsh gave Riley an implant that makes him do whatever Adam says, even if he doesn't want to. I'm sorry Will, Giles and Xander are dead."  
  
Willow went into shock. She should be crying, but instead felt relief that at least one of her friends was safe, and Tara was miles away.  
  
"Riley only got me in the shoulder. I think I can move." She said, trying to stay practical.  
  
"Why would you want to do that?" Buffy asked. Willow looked at Buffy as a suspicion entered her brain. As Buffy's teeth elongated into fangs, and her face warped into that of a demon, it became all too clear what had happened.  
  
"Buffy!" was the last thing that Willow Rosenberg ever said.  
  
As the body that had once been occupied by her best friend drank the last of blood, she took solace in the fact that they had all fallen fighting, even Buffy. Also, Tara and Anya were alive back in LA, they had Angel and even Cordy.  
  
The fight would continue.  
  
+++ More to come!!! Please R and R 


End file.
